Jesus Manuel Corona has impressed this season with FC Twente and appears primed for a regular role with El Tri.

Mexico's World Cup experience in Brazil seems like a lifetime ago, and whatever equity built on the back of El Tri's performance last summer is long gone. As we get deeper into 2015 with a busy international calendar on the horizon, El Tri will soon turn its attention to two major regional competitions in the Gold Cup and Copa America -- with the Gold Cup considered the priority whereas Copa America will be more of a proving ground for a secondary El Tri team.

Head coach Miguel Herrera has mentioned time and again the need to broaden the player pool to afford Mexico the opportunity to call in two different squads for each tournament and give its young players experience on the international stage and/or first-team reps. As Mexico looks toward the future of the national team, Herrera and El Tri must find players who can carry the team forward in 2015 and beyond, players who can create their own history of success and vision for the future, just as aging-out veterans like Rafa Marquez did before them.

In order for El Tri to continue to grow, the development and maturation of the following five young players will be at the forefront heading into a busy summer of international tournaments. Here's a look at a handful of promising Mexican players whose development will be key to the team's success in the 2018 World Cup cycle.

Diego Reyes | Age: 22 | Pos.: Defender | Club: FC Porto (Portugal)

Yes, that Diego Reyes, the same one who went to the World Cup and has featured time and again under Herrera. Reyes is only 22 years old and for some time now has been handpicked to be the next Marquez. However, Reyes has yet to live up to those lofty standards with either club or country.

A wax figure of Mexican coach Miguel Herrera was unveiled on Wednesday.

Saturday's clash against Ecuador in Los Angeles and next Tuesday's match in Kansas City against Paraguay may be Mexico's first games of 2015, but time is running out for coach Miguel Herrera to sieve through El Tri's depth pool and come up with two separate and competitive squads for the Gold Cup and Copa America this summer.

The "A" squad will be charged with winning the Gold Cup in the United States in July and sending Mexico through to a Confederations Cup playoff against the U.S. this fall, while...

Mateo Musacchio has the chance to prove his worth to the Argentine national team during the international break.

Things are about to get serious for South America's national teams. Since the World Cup it's been nothing but friendlies, with plenty of lucrative trips to the Far East. But the next cycle of competitive matches is soon underway; it starts with the Copa America in Chile in June, and continues soon afterwards with the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Over the next few days the national teams are in action for the last time before the Copa America squads are announced; suddenly, then, we...

Brazil won't be playing in North America every for years like they will i 2016, says CONCACAF chief Jeffrey Webb.

PHILADELPHIA -- For obvious reasons, the 2016 Copa America Centenario is being billed as the biggest soccer tournament to hit the United States since the 1994 World Cup.

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the host nation are scheduled to be among 16 teams that will vie for the title in front of packed NFL stadiums -- leading to an inevitable question: Could CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, the South American and North American (and Caribbean) confederations, make a combined championship for...